LEONA MAGUIRE IS five shots off the lead with a $2 million payday up for grabs for the winner at the CME Group Tour Championship.
The LPGA Tour season comes to a close in Florida this weekend and the Cavan native sits on four-under par after her opening round.
Maguire trails pacesetter Nasa Hataoka of Japan on nine-under, and is tied for 12th place with a glut of players bunched together in front.
After a bogey five on the fourth, Maguire responded with back-to-back birdies before seeing out the front nine with another on the par-three eighth.
.@nasagolf7355 is on fire today 🔥
— LPGA (@LPGA) November 16, 2023
She's -9 thru 17 🤩 pic.twitter.com/IpzMCnK1OJ
The 28-year-old didn’t drop a shot for the remainder of the round after the turn, adding two more birdies on 13 and 17, and will be hoping to build on the momentum tomorrow.
The total purse is $7m with that $2m pot for the winner one of the most valuable in the women’s game.
The field is comprised of nine players in the top 10 of the Rolex world rankings and 22 of the 23 winners so far during this season.
Check out the CME Group Tour Championship leaderboard - here
